HANDOUTS #1
CREATIVE WRITING
IMAGERY, DICTION, FIGURES OF SPEECH, AND
SPECIFIC EXPERIENCES TO EVOKE MEANINGFUL RESPONSES
Creative Writing
MELCS:
1. differentiate imaginative writing from among other forms of writing
2. cull creative ideas from experiences
3. utilize language to evoke emotional and intellectual responses from readers
4. use imagery, diction, figures of speech, and specific experiences
5. read closely as writers with a consciousness of craft
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Other Forms of Writing
Journalistic Writing relies heavily on the
• compromises much of art, fiction, and
truths, facts, current events, and
imagination.
knowledge.
• is seen undisciplined, personal, and
• Academic is strictly organized and
inspiration driven.
analytical.
• Scientific
• The purpose is expression, exposition
▪ The purpose is communication
• General
▪ Highly specific
• Personal
▪ Impersonal
If you have noticed, creative writing relies on imagination and expression. A part of creative
writing is the use of imagery (images) to vividly express the thoughts of the writer or the
author.
•
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What is Creative Writing?
Creative writing is any composing that goes beyond ordinary expert, editorial, scholarly,
or specialized types of writing, normally distinguished by an accentuation on account
make, character advancement, and the utilization of abstract tropes or with different
customs of verse and poetics. It is workable for composing, for example, include stories to
be viewed as exploratory writing, despite the fact that they fall under news coverage, in
light of the fact that the substance of highlights is explicitly centered around account and
character improvement.
Genres of Creative Writing
1. Poetry is said to be the oldest kind of literature as it predates even the written word.
In its earliest form, poems were recited and passed on from one person to the next.
The concentration of poetry lies on the line and its rhythmic qualities, and traditionally,
a strict form or dependence on meter. Today however, with the invention of free verse,
there are numerous ways that a poem can delineate from convention.
2. Fiction is a form of prose that depicts imaginary events and people. Novels, novellas,
and short stories fall under this category, although recent trends have also introduced
us to other formats such as hyperlink fiction and six-word stories. It pays close attention
to elements central to fiction – plot, character, setting, and conflict.
3. Drama is a fiction written to be performed. Although it is traditionally written in verse,
contemporary modes of drama now use prose and these are sometimes set to music
or dance. This genre places an emphasis on dialogue and stage direction.
4. Creative nonfiction uses literary techniques to write about facts, actual events, and
people. It distinguishes itself from technical or news writing by using literary devices
such as imagery and dialogue.
Information Map This part will give you the definition of other forms of writing.
Creative Writing
Other Forms of Writing
• Technical Writing is to educate the
• is to enthrall, entertain and arouse a
audience with factual information and is
certain feeling in a reader.
presented in a logical manner.
What Is Sensory Imagery?
Sensory Imagery includes the utilization of elucidating language to make mental pictures.
In abstract terms, it is a sort of symbolism; the thing that matters is that tangible symbolism
works by drawing in a reader's five senses. It is an artistic gadget author utilize to draw in a
reader's brain on numerous levels. This investigates the five human detects: sight, sound,
taste, contact, and smell.
•
VISUAL IMAGERY engages the sense of sight. Descriptions can be associated to
Visual Imagery. Physical attributes including color, size, shape, lightness and darkness,
shadows, and shade are all part of visual imagery. The text in italics are some examples
of lines using visual imagery.
Her phone signaled, immediately setting her teeth on edge. She looked at the broken
screen, saw his name, and slapped the phone back down on her desk.
Armani stretched across her couch, legs twitching excitedly, and he knew he must be
dreaming of the kittens he tries to capture every morning when he is at the dirty kitchen.
•
GUSTATORY IMAGERY engages the sense of taste. Flavors are the considerations in
gustatory imagery which includes the five basic taste such as sweet, salty, bitter, sour,
and umami—as well as the textures and sensations tied to the act of eating.
The food tasted good.
The sweet pondant icing melted on my tongue. The word delightful came to mind.
Summer has always tasted like hot chocolate to me. His kisses tasted like strawberries
under the sun.
•
AUDITORY IMAGERY engages the sense of hearing. Sound devices such as
onomatopoeia and alliteration can help create sounds in writing.
Erick sat alone at the bench nearest the main door so he wouldn't miss Via. The room
was noisy. The clang of heavy dishes glided from the kitchen. Ice tinkled as it settled in his
water glass. His watch read 9:30. She wasn't coming.
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•
OLFACTORY IMAGERY engages the sense of smell. Simile is common in using
olfactory imagery, because it lets writers to compare a particular scent to common
smells like dirt, grass, manure, or roses. The use of scents and stinks are common ways
to use olfactory imagery.
The scent of “latik” when my mother cooks rice cake is really nostalgic to me.
The street going to their house stinks of manure and the courtyard of urine, the
stairwells stank of moldering wood and rat droppings.
•
TACTILE IMAGERY engages the sense of touch. The feel, textures and many
sensations a human being experiences when touching something are associated in
tactile imagery. Differences in temperature is also a part of tactile imagery.
When we quickly plunge into the cool water, it took our breath away and raised goose
bumps to our arms. We had had been swimming in this pond since we were kids.
In other references, there is a sixth sense which called Kinesthetic imagery engages the
feeling of movement. This can be similar to tactile imagery but deals more with full-body
sensations, such as those experienced during exercise. Rushing water, flapping wings, and
pounding hearts are all examples of kinesthetic imagery.
Learning Task 1: Sense it!
Directions: Read the excerpts with understanding. Identify what sensory imagery is used in
each statement. Write your answers on your answer sheet. Identify too those words used
as descriptive in each excerpt. Copy the table and write your answers on their proper
column.
unbridled satisfaction of what was the original food. (One Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel García Márquez)
Imagery: _______________________________________________________________________
2.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
(“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost)
Imagery: _______________________________________________________________________
3.
Outside, even though the shut window-pane, the world looked cold. Down in the
street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though
the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no colour in anything,
except the posters that were plastered everywhere. The black mustachioed face gazed
down from every commanding corner. There was one on the house-front immediately
opposite. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption said, while the dark eyes
looked deep into Winston’s own. Down at street level another poster, torn at one
corner, flapped fitfully in the wind, alternately covering and uncovering the single word
INGSOC. In the far distance a helicopter skimmed down between the roofs, hovered
for an instant like a bluebottle, and darted away again with a curving flight. (1984 by
George Orwell)
Imagery: _______________________________________________________________________
4.
1.
On rainy afternoons, embroidering with a group of friends on the begonia porch, she
would lose the thread of the conversation and a tear of nostalgia would salt her palate
when she saw the strips of damp earth and the piles of mud that the earthworms had
pushed up in the garden. Those secret tastes, defeated in the past by oranges and
rhubarb, broke out into an irrepressible urge when she began to weep. She went back
to eating earth. The first time she did it almost out of curiosity, sure that the bad taste
would be the best cure for the temptation. And, in fact, she could not bear the earth in
her mouth. But she persevered, overcome by the growing anxiety, and little by little
she was getting back her ancestral appetite, the taste of primary minerals, the
In the period of which we speak, there reigned in the cities a stench barely conceivable
to us modern men and women. The streets stank of manure, the courtyards of urine,
the stairwells stank of moldering wood and rat droppings, the kitchens of spoiled
cabbage and mutton fat; the unaired parlors stank of stale dust, the bedrooms of
greasy sheets, damp featherbeds, and the pungently sweet aroma of chamber pots.
The stench of sulfur rose from the chimneys, the stench of caustic lyes from the
tanneries, and from the slaughterhouses came the stench of congealed blood. People
stank of sweat and unwashed clothes; from their mouths came the stench of rotting
teeth, from their bellies that of onions, and from their bodies, if they were no longer
very young, came the stench of rancid cheese and sour milk and tumorous disease.
(Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind)
Imagery: _______________________________________________________________________
5.
She ran her hand across the dark, concrete wall. It was cold as ice. When she came to
the middle of the room, she felt a thick, slimy substance actively oozing down the wall.
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Imagery: _______________________________________________________________________
What is Diction in Writing?
Diction is the careful selection of words to communicate a message or establish a particular
voice or writing style. For example, flowy, figurative language creates colorful prose, while
a more formal vocabulary with concise and direct language can help drive home a point.
What is the purpose of diction in writing?
Writers pick explicit words and expressions relying upon the result they're
attempting to accomplish. The motivation behind a bit of composing decides its
expression. In writing and fiction composing, authors regularly utilize casual lingual
authority and interesting expressions or words utilized for non-exacting implications,
similar to comparisons and analogies. On the off chance that a researcher is distributing a
paper on their exploration, in any case, the language will be specialized, succinct, and
formal, composed for a particular crowd.
In composing a fiction, the language a creator utilizes bolsters the fundamental story
components, such as setting. Style sets up when and where a story is set by utilizing
language local to that time and spots.
Different Types of Diction in Writing
Different styles of diction impact how different ideas are expressed.
1. Formal diction. Formal diction uses grammatical rules and uses proper syntax or the
formation of sentences. It is considered as a professional choice of words which can
be found in legal documents like business correspondences and academic articles.
2. Informal diction. Informal diction is more conversational and often used in narrative
literature. This casual vernacular is representative of how people communicate in real
life, which gives an author freedom to depict more realistic characters. Most of the
short stories and novels use informal diction to make it easier to understand by anyone
especially if the target audience is anyone.
3. Colloquial diction. These are expressions which are connected to informal. It is
generally representing a particular region or place or era or period. Contractions in
American English such as “ain’t” instead of isn’t is an example of colloquial expressions,
the use of colloquialisms makes the writing more realistic.
4. Slang diction. Slang is very informal language or specific words used by a particular
group of people. You'll usually hear slang spoken more often than you'll see it put in
writing, though emails and texts often contain many conversational slang words.
5. Poetic diction. Poetic diction is driven by melodious words that identify with a
particular subject reflected in a sonnet, and make a musical, or agreeable, sound. It
generally includes the utilization of elucidating language, in some cases set to a beat
or rhyme.
Learning Task 2: Celebr8!
Directions: Create a paragraph about Fiesta in the Philippines. Choose only one type of
diction in writing. Write your paragraph on your answer sheet.
What is Figure of Speech?
A figure of speech is a rhetorical device that achieves a special effect by using words in a
distinctive way. Though there are hundreds of figures of speech, here we'll focus on 20 top
examples.
You'll probably remember many of these terms from your English classes. Figurative
language is often associated with literature and with poetry in particular. Whether we're
conscious of it or not, we use figures of speech every day in our own writing and
conversations.
Some Figures of Speech
Using original figures of speech in our writing is an approach to pass on implications in
new, surprising ways. They can enable our readers to comprehend and remain puzzled by
what we need to state.
1. Alliteration: The repetition of an initial consonant sound. Example: Betty Botter
bought some butter.
2. Anaphora: The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive
clauses or verses. Example: Unexpetedly, we were in the wrong event at the wrong time
on the wrong day.
3. Antithesis: The combination of two different elements to attian equillibrium or
balance. Example: As Abraham Lincoln said, "Folks who have no vices have very few
virtues."
4. Apostrophe: Directly stating or calling a nonexistent person or an inanimate object as
though it were a living being. It commonly uses an apostrophe as a punctuation.
Example: "Oh, rain! Rain! Where are are you? Rain, we really need you right now. Our
town needs you badly.”
5. Assonance: It is the repetition of the vowel sounds in the structure of sentences or
lines. Example: We shall meet on the beach to reach the “Meach” Concert.
6. Chiasmus: A sentence or line structure where the half of the statement is balanced
against the other half. Example: The noble teacher said teachers should live to teach,
not teach to live.
7. Euphemism: The use of subtle and nonoffensive words to conceal or to replace the
offensive words in a statement. Example: "We're teaching our toddler how to go potty,"
Bob said. The use of the word potty is euphemism.
8. Hyperbole: An overstatement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of
emphasis or heightened effect. Example: I have a ton of homework to do when I get
home. I need to go home now.
9. Irony: It is a statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the
appearance or showing the concept. The use of words to convey the opposite of their
literal meaning is the highlight of irony. Example: Thalia received a very high grade in
her quiz resulting that her mother got mad.
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10. Litotes: An understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by opposing its
counterpart. Example: A million pesos is no small chunk of change.
11. Metaphor: An implied comparison between two dissimilar things that have something
in common. Example: "All the world's a stage.” of As You Like It
12. Metonymy: A word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely
associated; Linking words that are related to the word to be replaced. Example: The
use of the word vow instead of wedding, the pen stands for "the written word.
13. Onomatopoeia: The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects
or actions they refer to. Example: The clap of thunder went bang and scared my poor
dog.
14. Oxymoron: It is the combination of contradictory or incongruous words such as cruel
kindness; Example: “bitter sweet”
15. Paradox: a statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound)
reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless,
logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory. Example: "This is the beginning of the
end," said Eeyore, always the pessimist.
16. Personification: The utilization of inanimate objects or abstraction to associate with
human qualities or abilities. Example: The leaves of the Fire tree are dancing with the
wind during dry season in our country.
17. Pun: A statement with a double meaning, in some cases on various faculties of a similar
word and here and there on the comparative sense or sound of various words.
Example: I renamed my playlist of The Titanic, so when I plug it in, it says “The Titanic is
syncing.”
18. Simile: The comparison between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain
qualities in common using like or as. Example: Michael was white as a sheet after he
walked out of the horror movie.
19. Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole.
Example: Mark is asking for the hand of our daughter.
20. Understatement: A figure of speech employed by writers or speakers to intentionally
make a situation seem less important than it really is. Example: You win 10 million pesos
in a lottery.
Learning Task 3: Figure me out!
Directions: Write which technique is being used on the line. There may be more than one
correct answer; you may write more than one answer. Then, explain how you know your
answer on your answer sheet. Slashes represent line breaks.
Example: This falling spray of snow-flakes is / a handful of dead Februaries
What technique is being used? Personification and Alliteration
Choices: Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or
Personification
1. The moon is faithful, although blind
What technique is being used? ___________________________
Choices: Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or
Personification
2. children sleeping softly in their bedroom bunks
What technique is being used? ___________________________
Choices: Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or
Personification
3.
They chained themselves to subways for the endless ride from Battery Park to
the Bronx
What technique is being used? ___________________________
Choices: Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or
Personification
4. Time is a green orchard.
What technique is being used? ___________________________
Choices: Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or
Personification
5. At dusk there’s a thin haze like cigarette smoke / ribbons
What technique is being used? ___________________________
Choices: Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or
Personification
What I Have Learned
Learning Task 4: “T-M-L” Phrase
Complete the following phrases.
The Topic was about ______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
It Matters because ________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
I’ve Learned today that ____________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Learning Task 5: Read, Appreciate, and Critique Time!
Directions: There are millions of literary pieces. Each of them has its unique characteristics
and styles written by the effective and efficient writers. As Plato said that literature must be
Dulce et Utile which means that literature must have beauty/aesthetics and moral/values to
be earned. Here are some of the well-known literary pieces. Let's appreciate them.
1.
When I was One-and-Twenty by Alfred Edward Housman
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
“Give crowns and pounds and guineas
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But not your heart away;
Give pearls away and rubies
But keep your fancy free.”
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me.
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard him say again,
“The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
’Tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue.”
And I am two-and-twenty,
And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.
2.
Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
'Good-morning,' and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich - yes, richer than a king –
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
3.
The Rhodora by Ralph Waldo Emerson
In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,
I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,
Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,
To please the desert and the sluggish brook.
The purple petals fallen in the pool
Made the black water with their beauty gay;
Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,
And court the flower that cheapens his array.
Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why
This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,
Tell them, dear, that, if eyes were made for seeing,
Then beauty is its own excuse for Being;
Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!
I never thought to ask; I never knew;
But in my simple ignorance suppose
The self-same power that brought me there, brought you.
Critique Time!
Directions: Using the template below, write your comments and observations on the
elements used in each literary piece presented above. Write your answers on your answer
sheet.
Literary
Pieces
Text 1
Sensory
Experiences
Imageries
Diction
Figures of
Speech
Text 2
Text 3
PERFORMANCE TASK – Essay Writing!
Now that you have learned about the essential lessons on introduction to Creative
Writing, you can now write your first ever output as your final output in this subject.
As a student, how are you going to employ the use of imagery, diction, and figures
of speech in your writing. Cite the importance on becoming a creative writer and in your
future profession specifically in expression one’s thoughts and ideas and as a vehicle in
presenting social realities. Your essay must be in three paragraphs with each paragraph
containing not less than five (5) sentences. Kindly be guided by the rubric below and have
your essay be written in cursive manner in presented in a short bond paper.
Traits
Focus and
details
Organization
4
There is one
clear, wellfocused topic,
Main ideas are
clear and are
well supported
by detailed and
accurate
information
The introduction
is inviting, states
3
2
1
There is one
clear, wellfocused topic.
Main ideas are
clear but are not
well supported
by detailed
information.
There is one
topic. Main
ideas are
somewhat clear.
The topic and
main ideas are
not clear.
The introduction
states the main
The introduction
states the main
There is no clear
introduction,
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Traits
Voice
4
the main topic,
and provides an
overview of the
paper.
Information is
relevant and
presented in a
logical order.
The conclusion
is strong.
The author’s
purpose of
writing is very
clear, and there
is strong
evidence of
attention to
audience. The
author’s
extensive
knowledge
and/or
experience with
the topic is/are
evident.
Word Choice
The author uses
vivid words and
phrases. The
choice and
placement of
words seems
accurate,
natural, and not
forced.
Sentence
Structure,
Grammar,
Mechanics.
& Spelling
All sentences
are well
constructed and
have varied
structure and
length. The
author makes
no errors in
grammar,
mechanics,
and/or spelling.
3
topic and
provides an
overview of the
paper. A
conclusion is
included.
2
topic. A
conclusion is
included.
1
structure, or
conclusion.
Traits
4
3
but they do not
interfere with
understanding.
2
and/or spelling
that interfere
with
understanding.
1
that interfere
with
understanding.
References:
•
Creative Writing Quarter 1, PIVOT IV-A Learner’s Material First Edition, 2020 by
Department of Education Region IV-A CALABARZON
The author’s
purpose of
writing is
somewhat clear,
and there is
some evidence
of attention to
audience. The
author’s
knowledge
and/or
experience with
the topic is/are
evident.
The author uses
vivid words and
phrases. The
choice and
placement of
words is
inaccurate at
times and/or
seems
overdone.
Most sentences
are well
constructed and
have varied
structure and
length. The
author makes
few errors in
grammar,
mechanics,
and/or spelling,
The author’s
purpose of
writing is
somewhat clear,
and there is
evidence of
attention to
audience. The
author’s
knowledge
and/or
experience with
the topic is/are
limited.
The author’s
purpose of
writing is
unclear.
The author uses
words that
communicate
clearly, but the
writing lacks
variety.
The writer uses
a limited
vocabulary.
Jargon or
clichés may be
present and
detract from the
meaning.
Most sentences
are well
constructed, but
they have a
similar structure
and/or length.
The author
makes several
errors in
grammar,
mechanics,
Sentences
sound awkward,
are distractingly
repetitive, or are
difficult to
understand. The
author makes
numerous errors
in grammar,
mechanics,
and/or spelling
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